Proper Greek Nomz: Tzatziki

Proper Greek Nomz: Tzatziki

See the Greek version of this post

There is a lot of “pretend” Greek food going around and there are also a lot of “authentic” Greek recipes. I’m a bit fed up, to tell you the truth. So I’ve enlisted the help of my mum Despina (who is a bit of a rock n roll gal) to make some videos with proper Greek nomz. We are not claiming these are authentic, ancient Greek or anything like that. This is the type of food we, as Greeks, make and enjoy.

Today, it’s tzatziki, a super yummy and garlicky yoghurt based dip. It goes down a treat with barbecue but do try not to kiss anyone after you’ve eaten it (it’s the garlic).

Do drop us a line if you have any more ideas for Greek food videos.

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Lots of love to the bands below for allowing me to use their pod safe and brilliant songs.

Vine harvest and wine juice in Greece

Vine harvest - Atalanti, Greece

See the Greek version of this postI don’t know if you’ve watched old films with vine harvests and wine juice making or wine making but they always seem to contain plucky villagers without shoes stepping on the grapes. That’s all very well and dandy but apparently it hardly ever happens any more.

The team in Atalanti, Greece, went about finding out what actually does happen nowadays to get wine juice. This is effectively the process before one starts wine making. A lot of people in Greece with their own grapes will just take them to a patitiri (the place where the grapes are literally ‘stepped on’) to get wine juice. They then take the wine juice and make their own wine at home.

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Feta pie in a cake tin by Mrs. Eleni

Cheese pie in a cake tin by Mrs. Eleni

See the Greek version of this postA few months ago Mama Despoina (my rocking mum) called to inform me that at a dinner with friends she had a mythical cheese pie. I initially failed to grasp the significance of this since my mum rarely expresses such admiration for food. Even rarer is for her to gobble down THREE PIECES of feta pie in one go. So this was clearly a feta pie I needed to know all about.

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Onions stuffed with cheese by Dimitris

Onions stuffed with cheese by Dimitris

See the Greek version of this postThere is a whole host of dishes we make in Greece which are classed as ‘meze‘. These are small (or big) plates of delicacies and nibbles (not prawns on stick or mini sausage rolls though) which are served with tsipouro (a.k.a. raki) or ouzo. Try not to drink the later if you’re not used to them. Meze can be simple – just a few slices of cheese and tomatoes, more complicated like boureki or just out-of-this-world, like today’s recipe.

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VIDEO | Making Frappé (Greek iced instant coffee)

Frappé

Here I am with the first ever Digital Scullery video in English. Cheers to all the friends of the Greek blog for the idea, by the way if people hate the video I’m blaming you 😉

I honestly thought about doing the Greek accent but I sound so fake that I just stuck to my own. So no funnies there I think. Anyway.

In this first ever Digital Scullery video in English the only classic recipe from modern Greece I could think of was the Frappé coffee – beloved in Greece. The actual phrase “drinking Frappé ” in Greek has become sort of like a cultural symbol. Depending on the context it could mean that you’re just chilling or – in some cases – that you are just lazying about.

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How to make roxakia (Greek cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla syrupy goodies)

Roxakia | Ροξάκια

See the Greek version of this postRoxakia are a Greek type of sweet dough. I hope it’s mainly Greek but you never know. Anyway. They are bite sized cocoa and vanilla and cinnamon goodies that look lovely and taste like heaven. Avoid if syrupy stuff is not your cup of tea, but you will love them if you like any of the syrupy Greek, Turkish and Arabian goodies.

So. Friends of the Greek blog LOVE this dessert and have been asking me to do a video for absolute ages. I got around to it over the weekend (you can watch the video here – it’s in Greek obviously but you’ll see the technique I am describing below) and I managed to take some pics for the English side too.

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